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Championship | Gameweek 34
Feb 23, 2022 at 7.45pm UK
bet365 Stadium
Luton Town

Stoke
1 - 2
Luton

Baker (90+2')
Powell (80')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Hylton (56'), Jerome (82')
Campbell (31'), Cornick (52'), Lockyer (80'), Hylton (82'), Burke (90+1'), Adebayo (90+5')

Preview: Stoke City vs. Luton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Championship clash between Stoke City and Luton Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Nathan Jones will face his former side when he takes his Luton Town team to the bet365 Stadium for a Championship contest against Stoke City.

Both sides enter the contest in a rich vein of form, with the hosts unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions, while the Hatters have lost just once in their previous seven competitive matches.


Match preview

Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill on February 8, 2022© Reuters

Despite sitting in 13th position, Stoke will believe that they are in the hunt for a playoff place with six points separating them from the top six.

Although they have avoided defeat in their previous four league outings, the Potters will be frustrated that four of those contests have ended level.

At the weekend, the Potters played host to Birmingham City, and it was the visitors who hit the front in the 12th minute courtesy of Jordan James's opener before Tyrese Campbell restored parity to ensure that the encounter was level at the break.

The 22-year-old was celebrating his second goal of the contest just after half time to give Stoke the lead, but Gary Gardner's equaliser ensured for the second game in a row that the Potters would play out a 2-2 draw.

Michael O'Neill's side will now turn their attention to a home fixture on Wednesday and with 10 of Stoke's 16 home games having been level at the interval, the majority of the action may take place in the second half.

Luton Town's Reece Burke celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on February 5, 2022© Reuters

Meanwhile, Luton are firmly in the hunt for the playoffs as the Hatters sit in eighth place - two points adrift of the top six.

In their last 11 league games, the Hatters have lost just twice, while in that period they have won seven matches, including a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at the weekend.

After playing out a goalless first half, strikes from Cameron Jerome and Allan Campbell helped Luton extend their unbeaten home run to seven matches in all competitions.

An away fixture awaits the Hatters in midweek, and after winning four of their last six away games across league and cup competitions, Luton will be hopeful of collecting three points on Wednesday.

Jones's side tend to be solid defensively on the road, with six away shutouts to their name this season - only AFC Bournemouth have kept more away clean sheets in the Championship this term.

Stoke City Championship form:
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • D

Stoke City form (all competitions):
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • D

Luton Town Championship form:
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W

Luton Town form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W



Team News

Stoke City's Jaden Philogene-Bidace celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on February 8, 2022© Reuters

Injury issues rule Stoke's Mario Vrancic and Harry Souttar out of Wednesday's game, while Josh Maja will also be absent after testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

O'Neill is hopeful that Nick Powell and Romaine Sawyers will be available for Wednesday's contest, although the pair may only be fit enough for a place on the bench.

After returning to the side to score a brace at the weekend, Campbell will keep his place in the Stoke front three.

As for Luton, they are set to be without the services of Sonny Bradley, Jordan Clark and Luke Berry due to injury problems.

Jed Steer made his league debut for the Hatters on Saturday, and the goalkeeper is set to keep his place in the side for Wednesday's encounter.

After dropping down to the bench for the Birmingham City contest, Henri Lansbury could return to the Luton starting lineup.

Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bursik; Wilmot, Jagielka, Harwood-Bellis, Tymon; Baker, Allen, Clucas; Philogene-Bidace, Campbell, Brown

Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Steer; Lockyer, Osho, Naismith; Bree, Campbell, Mpanzu, Bell; Lansbury, Jerome, Adebayo


SM words green background

We say: Stoke City 1-0 Luton Town

Although Luton are enjoying a positive run of form, they tend to struggle against the Potters, with Stoke winning four of the last five meetings between the sides, and we think that the hosts will edge out the Hatters in a cagey contest on Wednesday.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 2.5:data



ID:478745:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10149:
Written by
Ben Sully

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 44.49%. A win for Luton Town had a probability of 28.1% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.

The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.69%) and 2-0 (8.58%). The likeliest Luton Town win was 0-1 (9.53%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.87%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Stoke vs Luton

Stoke City
50.8%
Draw
20.0%
Luton Town
29.2%
65
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